Tough Enough
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: After being bullied for being a weakling, Ben becomes a bitter bully himself! Can his friends help him see that he's in the wrong and discover what true strength really is?


**With a little help from my new friend Rosto'sGirl, we put our heads together and made this story! Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

In an abandoned warehouse in Undertown, Fistrick, a lowly criminal smiled triumphantly as he had Ben Tennyson pinned to the floor.

"Ha, it'd be easy to beat me if you weren't such a weakling, Tennyson." the thug said.

"Oh, really?" Ben grunted. His Omnitrix had timed out in the middle of a fight, making it easy for Fistrick to get the jump on Ben.

"The first thing I'm gonna do is break that arm of yours so you can't use that fancy watch again!"

Suddenly, the wall was burst open and Rook Blonko, Ben's partner jumped in with his Proto-Tool aimed at Fistrick. "Fistrick! You are under arrest!"

Unfazed, Fistrick held Ben up in a choke hold and used the boy like a shield. "Go ahead, bro. Take your best shot." He started twisting Ben's arm. Ben growled and screamed in pain. Rook could only grit his teeth in anger since he knew that if he fired, Ben would be injured as well.

"See? That's another thing about you, Tennyson." Fistrick said with a wicked smile. "You're such a pansy that you have the real tough guys clean up your mess like a little baby! Friends just make you weak. If your blue buddy didn't care about you, he would blast both of us anyway and problem solved! But no! You have to be such a wimp! A stupid little kid!" He backed away slowly as he spoke, ready to make his escape.

Just then, Fistrick was shot in the back from a laser gun. He howled in pain while Ben took his chance and ran away from Fistrick.

Fistrick turned and saw a whole brigade of plumbers aiming their weapons at him. Fistrick had no choice to but to turn himself in.

A few minutes later, Fistrick was locked in energy cuffs in the back of a plumber tank.

"You lucked out, Tennyson." admonished Fistrick with a tense frown. But he curved his lips into a smile. "Like weaklings like you can beat me anyway."

And the muscle-headed con was taken away.

"Ben, are you alright?" Rook asked.

Ben was silent. He didn't say a word. He just turned around and walked away.

"Ben!" Rook called out.

Ben kept walking.

* * *

It's been a week since Ben's encounter with Fistrick and no emergencies were going on. But Ben was nowhere to be seen.

At the Grant Mansion, Rachel and Wildvine were really worried about Ben.

"He hasn't returned any of my calls." said Rachel. "He won't even come over to the mansion."

"Was it something we did?" Wildvine said, looking sad.

"No,"

Everyone turned and gasped when they saw Rook stagger into the living room. His fur was messy and he had a black eye.

Rachel immediately rushed to the Revonnahgander. "Rook! Sweetheart! What happened?! Who did this?!"

Rook dipped his head. "Ben."

"BEN?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"We were training together. But Ben has been extremely aggressive ever since what happened with Fistrick last week." Rook explained. "He just keeps training and fighting until there was no one to spare with since he drove out every sparing partner in the Plumber base!"

"I think what Fistrick said about Ben being weak and all without the Omnitrix really hurt his feelings and now he thinks that his friends just make him weak, which is why he refuses to be around us." Rachel said.

"We make him weak?!" Wildvine shouted. "That Fistrick is gonna hear from me!" he snarled.

"No, Wildvine!" Rachel said. "He's not worth it. But Ben is our friend! So he always comes first. We just need to talk with him."

"But how?" asked Wildvine. "In the mood he's in, I don't think Ben wants to even look at us!"

Rachel smiled. "Who said anything about him coming to us?"

Everyone smiled and they huddled together to hear Rachel's plan.

* * *

At the Plumber base, Ben was wearing a green tank top and black shorts. He was smacking around a punching bag.

"Ben," It was Ben's grandfather, Max Tennyson. "you better head home. It's getting late."

But Ben ignored him. He stopped punching and went over to the weights, but his grandpa grabbed his arm.

"Ben, you've got to stop acting like this." Max said in a stern, serious, no-nonsense tone.

Master Patelliday came up holding up a clipboard. "Max has a point, Ben. According to these medical records, there are many counts of broken bones, sprained ankles, bloody noses, deep bruises, and blisters on top of blisters! Some of them are coming from all the criminals you've clobbered and sparing partners you've had." He gave Ben tense glare. "And you look pretty beat up yourself." He pointed to the bruises and blisters on Ben's hands and arms.

"So? What's your point?" Ben sneered.

"My point is that you're pushing yourself too far, Benjamin." Max said sternly.

Ben broke his arm free of his grandpa's grip. "It's not my fault you guys are a bunch of pansies." he sniffed. "I'm just doing what's right for me for a change. And I don't you or anyone else holding me back from being a better hero. No one will ever pick on me or push me around again!"

"Ben, you are a better hero, Ben." Max said.

"No I'm not!" Ben said, shaking his head. "Without the Omnitrix, I'm just a nothing, a weakling! But not anymore!" He walked away.

"Where are you going?" Max demanded.

"To a gym that'll accept tough guys like me and not softies like you!" And with that, the teen stormed away.

Ben walked downtown to the local gym. He looked at his hand and saw the bruises he got from all that working out. But he had to let it go because he was now tough Ben Tennyson, not stupid little kid Ben Tennyson.

Ben tried to find a gym, but they were all closed since it was late out. So he decided to just lift some weights at his home. But Ben started to feel pain as he walking. It was getting agonizing.

Just then, green sparkly dust rained over Ben. He looked up and saw Pesky Dust! The little fairy alien giggled and waved at Ben. "Sleepy time, Ben!"

"NO!" Panicking, Ben ran away. But he received a lot of Pesky Dust's sleep powder. His eyes started to droop and he felt very sleepy.

Feeling weak, Ben tried to lose Pesky Dust in the forest, which is exactly where a certain alien wanted him to be.

Deep into the woods, Ben leaned against a tree, struggling to stay awake. He weakly tried to reach the Omnitrix, but a green vine grabbed his arm and more vines tied him up. Wildvine came down from the trees.

"Wildvine!" Ben tried to say in alarm, but he was too sleepy to sound alarmed. He let out a yawn.

The plant alien smiled seeing Ben trying to stay awake. "You look a little tired, Ben." He started swaying Ben back and forth, slowly rocking him.

The rocking motion was making Ben sleepier than ever. "Stop...doing that." Ben mumbled, his eyes getting heavier.

As he was rocking Ben, Wildvine started humming a little tune, much to Ben's dismay.

"No..." Ben groaned, the melody making him sleepier.

Pesky Dust arrived and sprinkled a little more sleeping dust on Ben, making the boy slump over and snore loudly.

* * *

Ben began to wake up. He was still in the forest. But his arms and legs were tied down by tree roots, holding him down to the ground.

"W-Where am I?! What's going on?!" Ben demanded to know.

Wildvine came down from the trees. Rachel and Rook came out of the woods and sat down with Ben.

"Ben, we need to talk." Rachel said.

Ben just scoffed and turned away.

Wildvine came closer and observed Ben with his one blue eye. "Are those bruises on your arms?" he inquired.

Ben huffed and turned the other way.

"Ben, please listen. We can't stand seeing you like this!" Rachel said. "You're just hurting yourself and everyone around you!"

"What Fistrick said what wrong!" Rook said. "Friends don't make you weak! They make you strong and help you when you're in need."

"I am not in need of anything!" Ben shouted. "I'm suppose to be tough with no friends to hold me back!"

"What's wrong with being a nice guy?" asked Wildvine. "And no one's holding you back,Ben."

"Yeah, you're just becoming a bigger bully than Fistrick! Is that what you really want?" said Rachel. "I heard that you were bullied a lot when you were younger, Ben. But is being a bully really going to make you a better hero?"

Ben's eyes widened. He never thought of that.

"And having friends help you become stronger because we all share our insecurities and worries and we always have your back." Wildvine said. "Fistrick may have hit one of your biggest insecurities, but being cruel as him won't make it better. Being with friends who love and care for you does make it better. Don't you see? Jerk-wads like Fistrick are doomed to be miserable crooks because they don't have good friends like us."

"And your insecurities, as is true most times, are merely bad thoughts trying to bring you down." Rook said. "And we love the old you because you can really kind and caring." He smiled at Ben. "Besides, you make being a plumber fun!"

"I...I do?" Ben said, surprised.

"Yep." Wildvine grinned, revealing his jagged yellow teeth. "And speaking of fun," He pulled up Ben's shirt. "I think someone's overdue for a good tickle."

Ben's face went to absolute shock and shook his head as Wildvine wiggled his long fingers at Ben.

"Oh, Wildvine's one of the best ticklers!" Rachel said, chuckling.

Ben gulped as Wildvine's fingers came closer. Wildvine gently brushed his fingers across Ben's belly. The boy grinned widely and snickered a little.

Rook simply shook his head. "Always trying to hold it in."

"I'll fix that." Wildvine used one of his leg vines to tickle Ben under his nose. He cringed, making his mouth loosen until he finally opened his mouth and started laughing.

"Heeheeheeahahahahahaha! Stop! Don't tickle!" Ben pleaded.

"Sorry, Ben. But you need a good laugh." Wildvine teased as his fingers tickled all over Ben's stomach. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Ben squealed, his hips jerking around in an attempt to get away. "Stahahahap it! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Then Wildvine went for Ben's underarms and the boy exploded with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY! PLEASE! MAKE IT STAHAHAHAHAP!"

Ben laughed and wailed for mercy and Wildvine stopped at last. He freed Ben and the alien held Ben in his arms.

"See? Having friends like us always make you happy." Wildvine said, gently tickling Ben's neck.

Ben giggled and smiled at all his friends. "Yeah, sorry if I acted like such a jerk."

Rook ruffled his partner's hair. "It is alright, Ben. We're just glad to have you back."

"How about we have a sleepover at the mansion tonight?" Rachel said. "You could use a little vacation, Ben."

"Sounds good to me." Ben said. "Especially after all that tickling."

Everyone laughed as they walked back to the mansion. Now that Ben's spirit was lifted, he felt good now that he was his old self. And learned that friends are indeed the best thing a person like him could have. Because friends are a much more powerful strength.


End file.
